The present invention relates to a synthetic turf or carpet-like manufacture comprising a plasticized sulfur matrix.
Prior patents disclosing synthetic turfs include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,422,615, 3,332,828, 3,157,557; 2,515,847; 2,061,750, and 1,939,846.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,615 discloses a synthetic turf-like material which is referred to as a pile fabric. Fibers which are indicated as being suitable for making the yarns used to make the pile fabric of U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,615 are said to include olefins, particularly polypropylene, nylon, vinyl, vinylidene chloride, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyester, polyacrylonitrile, acetate, triacetate, rayon (cellulosics), and glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,828 relates to artificial turf preferably produced by weaving synthetic fibers on a Wilton cut-pile loom to form a structure consisting of a woven backing having a cut-pile face extending from one surface thereof and then applying a suitable latex formation on the other surface of the backing to render the complete struction dimensionally stable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,557 discloses an integrally molded plastic sod simulating natural grass and comprising a flat flexible base of a thick plastic material having a multiplicity of closely spaced, blade-like plastic stems molded integral with the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,515,847 discloses a surfacing structure suitable for use as a putting green for golf. The surfacing structure includes a top layer of rug material having a nap. The rug material is supported on center layers of sponge rubber-like material. The supported rug material is placed upon the earth.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,750 relates to grass mats prepared by stitching grass-simulated material to a base.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,939,846 discloses distributing fibrous material evenly over the top of a sheet of rubber composition and then vulcanizing the fibers to the sheet in a heat press.
Plasticized sulfur has been disclosed in various references, for example by J. I. Jin in "Chemistry of Plasticized Sulfur", Petroleum Division, A.C.S. Symposium, Vol. 19, No. 2, March 1974, pp. 234-241, and by C. Kinney Hancock in "Platicized Sulfur Compositions for Traffic Marking", Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1954, pp. 2431-2435. Exemplary patents disclosing plasticized sulfur include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,316,115, "Marking Composition"; 3,434,852, "Plasticized Sulfur Compositions"; 3,447,941, "Sprayable Sulfur Road Marking Compositions"; 3,459,717, "Sulfur-Based Plastic Composition"; 3,560,451, "Plastic and Nonflammable Sulfur Composition"; 3,453,125, "Plasticized Sulfur Compositions"; 3,674,525, "Plasticized Sulfur Compositions"; and 3,676,166, "Plasticized Sulfur Compositions". Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,019 discloses plasticized sulfur compositions.